Collab Winners Are ‘Building a Long-Term Relationship’ with MetLife

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Insurtech start-ups competing to win a US$100,000 contract to develop
and pilot solutions with MetLife EMEA can look forward to “building a
long-term relationship” focused on helping innovation to succeed,
previous winners of the insurance giant’s collab programmes say.

A large number of insurtechs and entrepreneurs have already applied for
“collab 3.0 EMEA”, a global open innovation platform inviting
participants to scale their business with MetLife while solving some of
the insurer’s biggest challenges across its business in Europe, the
Middle East and Africa.

Startups can still apply up until close on 20 April, 2018 at the collab
websitefor the opportunity to develop
solutions in areas such as customer engagement, sales, and operations,
and to pilot these solutions with MetLife EMEA.

Created by LumenLab,
MetLife Asia’s innovation center, collab 3.0 EMEA builds on the success
of two previous collab programmes for MetLife Asia (collab 1.0) and
MetLife Japan (collab 2.0), which have awarded US$600,000 in equity-free
contracts to startup finalists.

Klaas Stijnen, CEO of Montoux, one of the collab 2.0’s winners, which
has already started to pilot its solutions in product pricing
optimisation with MetLife Japan, advises entrants to be transparent
about the advantages and disadvantages of their solution when applying
and to be prepared for high calibre engagement if they are selected for
the programme.

Following a rigorous selection process, MetLife will determine eight
finalists and pair them with MetLife EMEA employee champions to help
finalists hone their pitch and improve problem-solution fit.

“You are building a long-term relationship, so take your time to explain
and ask questions and ensure communication is clear. Have patience and
ask for advice from MetLife’s employee champions and LumenLab’s collab
team on your pitch. That process is a great help to get your value
proposition right.”

“Winning collab was a far easier way of entering a new market than the
traditional route and a key advantage was the level of support from
different layers and geographies within MetLife to make innovation
succeed,” Klaas Stijnen, CEO of Montoux.

The eight finalists will be invited to attend the collab Summit EMEA and
Demo Day in London on 11-12 July 2018 to present their solutions where
the ultimate winner will be announced.

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates
(“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies,
providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management
to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their
changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40
countries and holds leading market positions in the United States,
Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more
information, visit www.metlife.com

About LumenLab

As MetLife’s pioneers for disruptive innovation, LumenLab is charging
ahead to create new businesses in health, wealth and retirement. Lumen,
a measure of light, symbolizes our commitment to illuminating a new path
for solving the problems that the people of Asia face today. Through our
focus on building new products and services grounded in technology and
data, we aim to help people achieve richer and more fulfilling lives.
For more information, visit www.lumenlab.sg